Watchdog investigating hanging incident at Wakefield police station

Quebec’s independent police watchdog is investigating after a 29-year-old prisoner was found alive following a reported hanging at the Wakefield police station Monday morning.

The man, who’d been taken into custody by MRC des Collines-de-l’Outaouais police, was taken to hospital after he was found hanged with a blanket around 9:20 a.m. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Le Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes said in news release that it has yet to confirm those details but that seven investigators had been assigned to the incident. They were scheduled to arrive in Wakefield around 2 p.m. Monday. The Sûreté du Québec was also on the case, providing a forensic identification technician.

The independent agency investigates whenever a civilian is killed, badly hurt or wounded with a firearm during police interventions or detention.